and rethink our infrastruure. >> hurricane sandy victims are still in the cold. are lawmakerssing the super storm to push the green agenda storm to push the green agenda and push you to pay more. can i help you? i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. ie learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long laing relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®. at legalzoom, we've created a betteplace to hane your legal needs. maybe you have questions about incorporating a business you'd like to start. or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like to find the right attorney to help guide you along, answer any questions and offer advice. with an "

twachlt the labor department says superstorm sandy had little affect on those numbers. >>> the markets continue their familiar pattern of following the latest word or words or hopes on the fiscal cliff. no major moves during the week, but several times the market ran ouof steam toward the end of the trading session. as for the fiscal cliff, the house of representatives left for a long weekend on wednesday. while there mayay be some behind-the-scenes action in terms of the talk k no one from the houses home. they announced 11,000 layoffs from citi. the markets liked the move. the stock rallied on the expense cuts. netflix andd disney announcea licensing agreement thatat will give netflix the right to show disney movies shortly after the they leave the theaters. so much to talk about, the fiscal cliff, jobs numbers, the state of the economy who better to talk about it than robert reich and current economics professor at the berkeley. let's talk about the numbers. on friday the surprisingly strong jobs numbers, 146,000 new jobs created. the unemployment rate 7.7%. we were expecting impact

goes higher, particularly because of sandy, shut-in, buy. how about google? google got crushed after it reported disappointing quarter. the culprit? people switching from desktop to mobile. as google makes less money on mobile advertisers. nevertheless, google has been coming back as the company is still the sultan of search, a business still growing in the high teens. we've seen how quickly facebook was able to adapt to the new mobile advertising environment, once google has seen that rocketship, i see no reason why google should be any different. especially since google owns android, the largest mobile operating system. they need to figure out how to monetize it better. something the company is doing by releasing its own line of smartphones and tablets. the nexus phone is sold out until after christmas. of the growth stocks, i got to admit i like google less than i did before the bad quarter. if you're trying to figure out which of these stocks worries me the most, it's google, because it's become a show-me situation. how about visa and master card? both up decently since i recommende

superstorm sandy. m >>> we are also following developing news overseas. up next, egyptian president mohammed morsi tries to quiet protesters but is he will to back down from his power grab. >>> a major ruling in michigan that has some workers upset and could hurt the auto industry. more on that when we return.  >>> michigan is now one step closer to becoming a right to work state. yesterday, the state house and senate approved bills limiting ups from collecting fees from nonunion workers. the bill has caused quite an uproar with union workers who say union rights are now at risk. ballet between labor and business could hit the auto industry especially hard. the governor says the bill promotes work equality. >>> mohammed morsi said he would not tolerate anyone trying to overthrow what he calls his legitimate government but the protestors say they'll continue. seven people are dead after violent clash this is week. >>> and historic visit by the leader of hamas to gaza tbeen e years. his party has been in control of the gaza strip for five years and he is arriving to mark the 25th a

soon. will they then be in a position to cash the company out entirely. >> sandy hurt that. higher than i would have thought. the government is free to trade. they got 15%. and i think that people who -- my take is, if you want to buy aig, i think that goes up. i would have hoped that the proceeds from the deal you mentioned would be able to take it and chop it up. i'm worried about the sandy. you've got to keep interest in the end. insurance companies, got to keep capital free. >> i wanted to mention, we mentioned this on friday, the chinese have been aggressive, setting records in terms of merger and acquisition volume. we talked about this on friday, take a look across the borders from china, that helps the story. that $15 billion deal did get approved from the canadian government. they do own some assets in the gulf of mexico. although that is not expected to be problematic at this point. but take a look at what happened in the stocks on friday. that, after we received word there would be a statement from the canadian prime minister. that freaked a lot of risk arms out. did not

using sandy to go to war over climate change. here's an inconvenient truth for the president. now, al gore is taking on him as well. >> this storm was related to global warming. we cannot have four more years of mentioning this occasionally, and saying it's too bad that the and saying it's too bad that the congress can't act. twin i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligat. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. nd out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possibleloss of . can i still ship a gift in time r christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. >> fema is doing nothing still, just

the ground. he has now more reasons to be furiou al gore using sandy to go to war over climate change. here's an inconvenient truth for the president. now, al gore is taking on him as well. >> this storm was related to global warming. we cannot have four more years of menentioning this occasional, and saying it's too bad that the and saying it's too bad that the congress can't act. having you ship my gifts couldn't be easier. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer. oh.sorry about that. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office. i tell them dentur are very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can grow and multiply. polident is specifically designed to clean dentures daily. its unique micro-clean formula kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains, cleaning in a better way than brushing with toothpaste. that's why i recommend using polident. [ male announcer ] polident. cleaner, fresher, brighter ever

got on the ground. he has now more reasons to be furious. al gore using sandy to go to war over climate change. here's an inconvennt truth for the president. now, al gore is taking on him as well. >> this sto was related to global warming. we cannot have four more years of mentioning is occasionally, and saying it's too bad that the ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the mercedes-benz winter event is back, with the perfecvehicle that's just right for you, no matter which list you're on. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] lease a 2013 c250 for $349 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. to come home for the holidays. that's double miles you can actually use... sadly, their brother's white christmas just got "blacked out." [ brother ] but it's the family party! really jingles your bells, doesn't it? my gift to you! the capital one venture card! for any flight, any time! that's double miles you can actuly use! how illuminating. what's in your wallet? let me guess, am on the naughty list again? ho ho ho! >> fema is doing nothing still, just going around in

drove sales last month? an improving economy. sandy. post-sandy storm. buying in the new york, new jersey area. in fact when you talk with dealers in that area they say they saw sales gained throughout the month and that's good news for luxury automakers. bmw just reported sales increasing 38.8% for the year. they've sold almost a quarter million bmws here in the united states and as a company, when you lump in mini , they believe they'll excel past the record of 2007. let's look at the monthly sales rate or annual sales rate. right now we are on track to finish this year probably at about 14 1/2 million. that's going to fall shy of the 16 million in 2007 but above what we saw in 2008. it's certainly what we were expecting and we'll have even stronger numbers in december. >> it is a really good numbers from honda as well. phil lebeau, thank you for that. >>> twint che >>> i want to check back in with jackie deangelis. president taking questions via twitter. >> the first question was@paulmmckenzie. can you assure us that any fiscal cliff negotiations regarding entitlement reform wil

welcome. >> talk about hope. the united nations using the tragedy of superstorm sandy, ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the mercedes-benz winter event is back, with the perfect vehicle that's just right for you, no matter which list you're on. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] lease a 2013 ml350 for $599 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. >> welcome back, plang the sandy card for the green agenda? it's true, the united nations pow wowing this week and using super storm sandy the reason why. and countries could pay up to 100 billion dollar to finance a green climate funds and help the poor nations fight global warming and one of the u.s. top scientists saying the is he vseverity of the storm is no coincidence. >> that's nonsense, i want a clean earth as much as anyone else. they can skim down the single hurricane on one facto or burning coal is nonsense. we had a bad hurricane in new england in the 30's and they didn't blame that on burning coal. we're burning a lot more coal relativeo the economy than we are now. there are control freaks out there.

number, how much will claims drop after the spike from superstorm sandy. find out at 8:30 a.m. eastern. and cut! very good. o geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please? >>> welcome back to "squawk box" everyone. the futures right now are at this point right around the flat line. we had seen the dow futures up by 15 points or so, it's come back down but probably a lot of people waiting to see what happens in washington because it's been driving trading for several weeks. >>> honda is expecting within two years it will export more vehicles than it imports from japan. the company says the factories will take on a larger role in global product development at that point. >>> all right, i've been wanting to ask larry some specific questions and i'm going to do it now because actually some of the stuff you talk about doug oberhelm, you teach economics, you're an economic sage so the mantra and we heard it again that if we could get rid

gotten has been mixed. particularly on the consumer side as well, because of sandy. so i think in the meantime, until we get a resolution, i've said before, i think you're going to be in a trading range. and i think into the strength of the market, you want to take some off, never bad to have some cash. but on these pullbacks, i think you want to be buying, because i actually think the economy is getting better, particularly when you look at housing, consumer, even auto and aerospace, all those data points point to 2013. >> are you buying the market on any pullback? >> i like the santa claus rally with josh and would be raising cash. i think the risk in the markets further on the down side than the up side. but when you see some real pullbacks, buy the stock if you like it. >> morgan stanley's top market watcher has been bearish all year and not ready to change his mind. adam parker joins us live. welcome back to halftime. good to see you. >> how are you, scott? >> 1167 is where you thought we would be at the end of the year. you'll be far short. why aren't you willing to change your

the run and we are trying to track him down. the most vocal of sandy's victims is blasting back. find out why coming up next. >> we are the people that are ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the mercedes-benz winter event is back, with the perfect vehicle that's just right for you, no matter which list you're on. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] lease a 2013 ml350 for $599 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. now we need a little t more... [ male announcer at humana, we understand the value of quality time and personal attention. which is why we are proud to partner with health care professionals who understand the difference that quality time with our members can make... that's a very nice cake! ohh! [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] humana thanks the physicians, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists and other health professionals who helped us achieve the highest average star rating ang national medicare companies... and become the first and only national medicare advantage company to achieve a 5-star rating for a medicare plan... your efforts result in the qual

. he has now more reasons to be furious. al gore using sandy to go to war over climate change. here's an inconvenient truth for the president. now, al gore is taking on him as well. >> this storm was related to global waing. we cannot have four more years of mentioning this occasionally, and saying it's too bad that the and saying it's too bad that the congress can't act. ins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligatio. i ed to rethink the core of my portfolio. at i really ne is eep. introducing the isharecore, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors oose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of incipal. i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the ly way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spo

sandy effect in there and i think joe's right, there is going to be to an extent a sandy effect in there. i just want to show you first the claims chart. this is the chart we've been putting up every week since hurricane sandy came through and the pattern of sandy jobless claims relative to katrina. if we don't have that chart -- there it is, great. it goes up and now we're in the down. it may pop back. but the trouble is that the big surge there is probably in the week of -- or is going to affect the week of the employment survey. >> the last week. >> and now, guys, if you have the next one back there, i don't know if you have it, you can see there what we show there is we're looking for only 80,000 jobs on friday. 95 in the private sector. that's a big jobs -- it might be hurricane related, but it could also be cliff related. there's these two things just backing up what joe said, folks, we've got enough to worry about without the stuff that we could probably fix and move on, there's enough going on. you can see that we're going to be substantially below the six-month average tha

: thank you for the debate. and sandy victims facing devastation one month later, so is this any time for the united nations to be using them as a fund raising tool? the cavuto gang is all over that one at the bottom of the hour. hour. up here first, forget fees in this family used capital one venture miles to come home for the holidays. that's double miles you can actually use... sadly, theirrother's white christmas just got "blacked out." [ brother ] but it's the family party! really jingles your bells, doesn't it? my gift to you! the capital one venture card! for any flight, any time! that's double miles you can actually use! how illuminating. what's in your wallet? let me guess, am on the naughty list agn? ho ho ho! let me guess, am on the naughty list agn? music is a universal language. but when i was in an accident... i was worried the health care system spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. information on my phone. connection to doctors who get where i'm from. and tools to estimate what my care may cost. so i never missed a beat.

-- by the way, sandy was an auto destroyer. loss of life. horrible. terrible. it also took out many more cars than people realize. you have to pump overtime to be meet the demand. >> we're still adding up sandy and figuring that out. we're far from figuring that out. hundreds of thousands of automobiles. where are we? 15 plus at the end? >> it's possible. 15. it puts people to work in the country. they don't just add in mexico. mexico is booming. fabulous moment for mexico. they will add in this country too. >> there's talk that their share of the market in the northeast, the big three, is not as high as it is in the rest of the country. we live in part of the country where incomes are higher. you may see better numbers out of bmws and mercedes. >> i don't know the percentage that's brought into the new jersey, new york area, the ones that you always see when you go over a bridge and you look down and this is new york -- i don't mean to be too centric. the foreign cars have to replenish quickly. american cars have to be put on a trailer and take them here. >> again, those numbers co

back. amazon is just a winner here particularly in sandy. i regard google as making a comeback. i think that when you look at what -- apple fears google. google is going to do better going forward. look at facebook by the way. they figured out things. i'm not going to be -- i'm looking at stocks that once we go over the cliff bounce back and if we don't go over the cliff are where a lot of money is going. >> where does ulta, are these tier 2 names? >> ulta is -- david and i joke about this. it's the growth stock -- key to this market. gilliad has been great. same with ulta. you may laugh at ulta. i won't finish my sentence. >> i may. >> this double the store thing is what whole foods says. any time you can double stores, growth guys just love it. >> we're told there's no concern if we go over the fiscal cliff that that will result in some sort of a chill in the housing recovery offer the housing market. this harvard study that bob toll cited, 1.8 to 2.8 million households fewer since 2007 were formed and that's playing catchup. we should have the formation of those households unro

storm sandy but will the residents see it in the "wall street journal" reporter says if katrina is an example, don't count on it. of $142 billion in federal aid headed for that, only $40 billion made it directly to victims from fema. that is incredible. not right. >>guest: it is not right. when i saw that, cuomo is coming to washington, and you showed the capitol you should have dollar bills coming out of the window because when the governors come to washington they want money with their palms up. that is what governor cuomo wants. he wants the federal government to write a big check to the state. we found with katrina, of the $140 billion, according to independent government auditors, there was rampant corruption and fraud and no bid contracts that went to cronies and we estimate that somewhere between 20 percent to 25 percent to 30 percent of the money was wasted on fraudulent contracts. it didn't helps victims. a lot of people got rich but it wasn't the people who lost their homes. >>neil: you can see money for a variety of purposes, the money coming in, helping the victims, hel

the wheel of hurricane sandy may have boosted the bottom line of automakers last month as americans replaced cars and trucks lost to the storm. we'll go inside the figures with the chief economist from the national automobile dealers association. i always wait until the last minute. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express [ maby december 22nd break from the holiday stress. for christmas delivery. >>> auto make irmaker sales for rise as consumers in the northeast replaced vehicles damaged or lost to hurricane sandy. sales also likely boosted by pent up demand. joining us is paul taylor at the national automobile dealers association. paul, good morning to you. how much of this demand rise are we going to see will be sandy rebound from sandy and actually real demand? >> we have low interest rates and old cars on the road. so a lot of the demand is real demand. but the other thing is that all the checks haven't been written for sandy. we've had about two

sandy? in all the boroughs. everywhere you go. those who are having the same issue. what is there going to be a quality life in 10 years? neil: did you have any chance of dressing up as to talk about and it is? >> predent obama i met personally. and i told him that he lied, enter, lies, they are all liars. neil: you told him that the presence face? >> well, he told me to relax. when i told him -- neil: he told you last? >> yes, he said let me tell him my concerns. and i said president obama, you are not doing what you're supposed to be doing. he said scott, fema works for me and i can help you with insurance and without your -- with your mortgage, they took down my information and they wrote down my name two days later we heard from the mouth and right after we talked to the guy, they did give his rentals systems the ascends the same day i spoke to the president, $3000 from i believe it was under a lot of pressure. my wife handles that. and they are telling you every two months must be cocerned. come look at my house, that's what i told him. i have no sewage and water and i have no heat

sentiment continues to be strong. maybe you see pause because of weather issuees. sandy, fiscal cliff. but as a result, the ones that fall and come down a lot, those are the ones you pick at. >> and pope benedict is launching a new application. pope to you on facebook. the application lets you listen to his words, see his pictures and receive messages of congratulations through virtual post cards. >>> all right, all right, sema? >> hewlitt packard jumping nearly 4%. carl may be interested in the company. hp facing serious issues and the stock faulling 44%. own an fast money at 5:00, we want to know if you think they can rise from the dead. >> thank so much. >>> final trades up next when we come back on "halftime." s. i d'. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligations. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includ

: been morehan a month since hurricane sandy ravaged the east coast. new york governor andrew cuomo seeking federal aidfor the victims of superstar and sandy, new york and new jersey requting $79 billion from the federal government in order to rebuild. but there are still many foks picking up the pieces, trying to rebuild there lives and businesses. my next guest who lost her entire store in the storm. she says the government has done nothing to help work and finds herself in a circle of red tape. if you for coming in the show. appreciated. >> thanks you for having me in letting me tell not only my story, but the story ofmany small businesses better in the same predicament as i am. gerri: you had a store that had been around since 2004. >> i have been in my store for about nine years. my heart and soul. fresh and homemade. a pillar of the community. gerri: very involved. >> very involved. we donate bagels a project hospitality. our bagels aren the hospital. involved in many of the school activities in different organizations. gerri: tell me how they figure store. >> in left me with

holidays as storm cleanups. hurricane sandy spared the statue but did widespread repair on the island. the statue just got a $30 million spruceup that closed it for a year and it reopened the day before hurricane sandy. >> that's a shame. that was a storm. that was -- 13-foot water level. >> probably for a time all that was visible was the statue itself in the entire island surrounding it under water. kind of crazy. our storm around here in comparison not as big but it was a significant blow we tack over the past couple of days. many of you had more than half a foot of rainfall in just five days. we do have another round of rain moving in. i'm not going to call it a storm. we won't have flooding or widespread problems from the next system, just rain moving through. 63 degrees in livermore, san jose, san francisco and oakland. santa rosa with some rain showers around for you with 54. concord 57. have you noticed the lack of sunshine? taking that extra vitamin d pill in the morning? only 3 of the past 19 days have been sunny. i'm happy to report that will change coming up. but we

above expectations. 146,000 jobs added in the month of november. sandy did not have that much of an impact on the numbers. unemployment fell to the lowest level in nearly three years to 7.7%. more people stopped looking for work, all together. consumer sentiment, not as strong heading into the holidays. preliminary index actually fell in december. economists had to look for a slight increase. investors continue to get out of apple. the tech giant having its worst week since they of 2010. apple is in they are barking territory. shortly after the iphone5 came out, part of it in the near profit. let's get to the floor show. bobby, i want to start with this jobs number today. the labor department says no affect on sandy. there was some data that pointed to the fact that people were leaving the workforce because of sandy. >> the numbers speak for themselves. i do not think the full effects can be known until maybe a couple of weeks. there certainly are people that cannot go to work and have been laid off because businesses are out. there are all sorts of new jobs that have sprung up. i m

industry suffered the biggest drop thanks to superstar sandy. atlantic city's casino revenue slipped nearly 28%. each of the city's 12 casinos reported declines with for down for a month. we continue our "countdown to the closing bell" with liz claman. liz: the fiscal cliff talk is everywhere, always good to be hearing about lately, but is there really something else that can be bubbling under the surface that could send the market into a tailspin that we should be talking about now? join me in a fox business exclusive, 2003 nobel laureate in economics and nyse will institute director. he has a whole institute for volatility. spotting risk. we thought let's bring you in and talk about noo the fiscal cliff of the three hidden risks people should be talking about but aren't. how did you identify them? >> there are lots of things people worry about, but which of the really big ones and what kind of a timefram time frame ae talking about? decade?out next week or next we talk about the big risk to have to look further in the future. liz: the next year or so? 20 years, 50 years perhaps. nu

. melissa: paying the price for hurricane sandy, fema asking for more money to foot the bill. how does the federal government plan to pay for this? lori: the social networking site moving up in the world. how investors could benefit the head. want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... [ male announcer ] at humana, we understand the value of quality time and personal attentio which is why we are proud to partner with health care professionals who understand the difference that quality time with our members can make... that's a very nice cake! ohh! [ giggles ] [ male annouer ] humana thanks the physicians, nurses, hospitalspharmacists and other health professionals who helped achieve the highest average star rating among national medicare companies... and become the first and only national medicare advantage company to achieve a 5-star rating for a medicare plan... your efforts result in the quality of care and service we're able to provide... whicmeans better health outcomes... and more quality time to share with the ones who matter most. i love

forget nonsandy charities. are all the sandy charities getting all the money this year? >> unfortunately when disasters happen there is flooof money because of a good heart of americans and it is appropriate that way, but when it happens right have to make choic where your charitable dollars to go there isension and some charities that lose out that really need help. of course it is no easy choice for a donor. we recommend if at all possible that you don't forget those charities that are the for you all year-round. gerri: up 7.5% for the big charities. that is an amazing number. ken, thanks for coming on. it is charitynavigate tore.org, correct? >> corct. gerri: great website. president obama and his family getting into the christmas spirit at the 90th tree-lighting ceremony at the whites house. it was transplanted to the white house days before the hurricane. look at that. it is cool. it made it through unharmed. ama was saying santa claus is coming to town. this is the tr outside. guess what? there are 54 more of them inside the house. than last year. there is one tree dedicated just t

before hurricane sandy. what is more, there are few if any indications they will get that that neck of t woods any time soon. big layoffs at citigroup, what is that 11,000? lingering fallout from thousands of jobs lost at hostess. all i'm saying is, when you look at this news, and it still interpreted as good, only make me thing, that mainstream media is stillushing for the president or democrats. well, the guy got reelected. you don't have to pretend any more, it upsets me, tye young, what do you make of this. >> neil thank you, we have wall street ling people off, main street laying people off, market flat lining up and down one week to the next. just like it was before it crashed in 28, unemploymt number 7 .9% that is very high, real unemployment maybe is almost 17%, and the washington post tells us that ignore it because of hurricane sandy, that is ridiculous. my clients are business owners, they tell me that the cost of living and cost of doing business is going up, t availabilityf business loans is nonexistence, they are battening down the hatches. that is the reality. neil: what

controversy. >>> superstorm sandy victims ripping into female. fema. wait until you hear that next. it's coming up. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. you're not filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today. aww, not the mall. well, i'll do the shopping... if you do the shipping. shipping's a hassle. i'll go to the mall. hey. hi. y'know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail flat rate boxes from the posl service. if it fits, ithips anywhere in the couny for a low flat rate. yeah, i know. oh, you're good. laughing ] good luck! [ male announcer ] priority mail flat rate boxes. online pricing starts at $5.15. only from the postal service. [ engine revs ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the mercedes-benz winter event is back, with the perfect vehicle that's just right for you, no matter which list you're o

, al gore says you want proof of climate change? look no further than superstorm sandy. gore calling on the president and congress to act and act now. that may mean a carbon tax? however, listen to this, a study from colorado state university says the exact opposite. that sandy was not caused by climate change. we will talk about all that in a moment. plus, you want proof that raising taxes does not work, that it doesn't bring in more money? well, in california, where they just voted to raise taxes big-time, the state is more than 800 million dollars short of the revenue it expected to bring in, because when you raise taxes, some people leave. check the big board. same old same old same old. the dow is flat, up just 23 points in the early going this monday morning. here is our company: sandra smith is with us. the conservative commentator is with us. and nicole petallides is there on the floor of the new york stock exchange. here we go, new at 10:00, the latest climate change rant from former vice president al gore. he blames pollution for causing climate change, which he says leads

straight week as we remind you, thises the number you want to see fall. hurricane sandy's impact continues to slowly but surely subside. we had weekly jobless claims dropping by 25,000 last week to a seasonally-adjusted 370,000. the week's prior total was revised upward to 395,000 from 393,000. and treasury prices rising today, pushing yields back down to their lowest level in more than two weeks. look at this pathetic yield on the ten-year note. it fell two basis points to 1.57%. you're not getting a lot of return there. david: which is why some people are putting their money in stocks. we have all this covered. we have til mulholland in the pits of the cme. we have a street fight. jeff believes there will be a fiscal cliff resolution. david wright, on the other hand, thinks d.c. will avoid the cliff, but it will not stop the bears from coming around this time. let's start with tim at the cme. and, tim, we were talking about what a low yield you get now on treasuries. people are looking for some kind of yield, and the only place you're finding it is in the stock market. >> yeah,

sandy effects, so finally a clean read as to the claims aspect. but it doesn't look like, jim, that we are set for a lower open today. >> carl pointed out that maybe there's some room between sides. but, look, yesterday was one of those days, show a lot of americans don't even know about the fiscal cliff. paychecks are going to go down, a million layoffs in the defense industry. no one seems to care right now. it's bad. >> you know what we have going for us? the grid, december 17 announced -- on a seasonal basis, they have reiterated once again that it doesn't have the demand to be sold year round, but starting a week from monday. >> i don't buy that. i think they do it because whenever they have mcrib, they're just fighting traffic for mcrib. there are places in the world where the mcrib is on the menu all the time. in case you're there on your vacation. >> i'm learning here all the time. i'm always learning. >> switch from the bacon cheese-inator. [ bell rings ] . >> celebrating the ground breaking of hotels in new york. we'll be speaking to the ceo in this hour. >> whitehorse is an

superstorm sandy are settling into their home away from home. when they are not helping with recovery efforts they are recouperating on the uss wright. it is equiped with sleeping quarters and a common area. anna is live with an inside look. >> hello everybody at home. finding space for the thousands of volunteers who stepped up in the aftermath of superstorm sandy has proven to be a tall order. that's where this ship comes in, the ss wright. it is now home away from home for a couple hundred volunteers from the american red cross and fema core. they are staying together and eating together and playing games and watching sports together, yet it is in patriotic living quarters. and they are manning the 27 disaster recovery centers set up in the tri-state area. many are young and even just right out of high school. it is an interesting dynamic as many of the red cross volunteers are older. retired health care workers. it can be trying. being around storm victims and devastation at times is emotionally exhausting. >> the hardest part for me that i am not able to give them immediate assis

the highest $3.85. many analysts are still blaming the effects of hurricane sandy. both surveys are saying prices will fall even further by the end of the year. merry christmas. michigan, that earth place of unions might be a work to write state as early as tomorrow. when the governor is set to sign a newly passed legislation. not stopping president obama from weighing in. slamming the bill as they give workers the right to work less money. more on this, thank you for being with us. this goes bac back to the tax hy act. states have a right to do this, right? it seems really odd to me the president is getting involved at the state level like this. >> you're absolutely right. one thing that should be noted out this mission becomes the 24th right to work state, over the last decade right-to-work states have seen a net increase of 3.6 million jobs. union states have seen a net decrease of 1 million jobs. this is a good thing, the voters voted for this when they knocked down a proposition on the ballot in 2012 essentially trying to enshrine union rights with the state constitution. that

waterway. we're looking for a complete shut down of that area. a lot of river has muddy and sandy bottoms and channel with sustained low water has been drug out by the current. we have a fixed bottom in this area occupied by rock pinnacles. this will prove to be impasseable by any boats and barges. it will effectively close the river in this area. melissa: is there anything anyone can do or is it up just to a raindance and praying for the wetory change? >> well rain would certainly help. what we've asked for is a formal declaration of an emergency by the president and by team -- fema that would expedite the process to blast some of the rock pinnacles out with dine mitt that would make the area passable. we're facing a lower water situation coupled by the water flowing out of the missouri river which is a huge, huge tributary to the upper mississippi area, is now being reduced even further. so you have a drought situation. also coupled by the fact that flows being reduced out of missouri with a fixed bottom sticking point south of where the flows end up in mississippi. melissa: it is so da

the costs of hurricane sandy could easily wipe out most of next year's savings. >> with a trillion dollar deficit right now. so if you cut 94 billion and nothing else changes you barely dented the deficit. the other programs are growing. we'll not see spending decline. in fact we'll likely have a emergency spending bill for sandy that is 60 billion. 94 is gone right there. >> even with a trillion dollars in cuts federal spending is on the way up every year starting with 3.5 trillion this fiscal year. nearly 3.6 trillion in 2014. 4 trillion by 2016 and 5 trillion by 2021. the cbo says even allowing 5 trillion in tax increases to hit the economy the next decade the federal government still spends $2.3 trillion more than it takes in. back to you. melissa: oh, rich edson thanks so much. adam: you think with the physical problems the country faces zooming at us like a 1959 he had sell going at us on a one way treat there would be sense of urgency. president obama has no meetings, no public appearances on the issue planned at least so far today. brad blakeman is not surprised. he says it

park. >> one month later volunteers continue to work side along resident affected by super storm sandy. the cleanup is overwhelming. volunteers from operations less in international chip away at the huge mess. in the wake of super storm sandy, hospitals looking at their own disaster plans and covering their bases. the hospitals routinely test their preparedness. after the storm, officials are taking closer look at fuel and water supplies, how to handle crowd control, and the importance of finding volunteer help in the event of failed communication. >> if you've been with us this morning, rosemary is here. we are talking about the weather. this is one of the biggest weather warnings. fortunately, it's not on a regular commute. heavy rain and wind. as you look at this picture, the national weather service -- this is a big deal -- they've issued a flash flood warning for napa and sonoma county. it's only going to last for the next 45 minutes. it tells me this is a fast- moving storm. how else can i tell that? because it is why storm reports. it is right now moving through the central day.

hundred dollar bills to hurricane sandy survivors. this generosity is matched only his humility. he insists on remaiing anonymous and not being photographed all. here is a clue. he and his security entourage have been spotted with red caps watch with the word. [indiscernible] we all love hundred dollar bills, but not everyone feels the same way about the dollar bill. a new report arguing we should get rid of the dollar bill and replace it with a heavier, but longer lasting dollar oin. why? they say because doing so would save us about $146 million per year. if we want to wage a war on currency, maybehey should think about getting rid of the penny. by some estimates it would save the $60 million per year. it costs to and a half cents to make every penny. now, that is a government at work. two and half cents for every penny. president obama planning to meet with governors next week as part of his effort to talk with people about avoiding the fiscal cliff. members of the national governors' association executive committee meeting at the white house next tuesday, including chairman tell

discussions in washington? >> probably not. we got the big distortions from san sandy. slowly working through that. so i think if there's an outlier, investors will yawn and wait for the big nonfarm payroll report tomorrow. >> are we comfortable mf-i don't know how comfortable we are. consumers seem to be in better fettl eflt. >> in spite of this anemic job growth that we've had during the entire jobless recovery, it seems like consumers sense the -- their balance sheets have improved pretty dramatically. so, yeah, consumers -- and that's led to consumers spending slightly more than what experts thought they would spend. >> so you're overweight large cap versus small cap. why? >> the large cap u.s. multinationals, they typically have overseas subsidiaries that can reach into the emerging pockets of growth. i like the dividends payers, as well, because in these choppy markets which we'll continue to have get nice dividends. >> all right much ha. . have a good day. that's it for today's program. "squawk box" it is next. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, i

will be worse than it would have been because of super storm sandy. so you didn't know how much it was to do with that and how much was the economy. so it will be a bit of a wash in terms of reading the tea leaves for the u.s. >> so the growth picture for the u.s., we sort of 1%, 2%, depending on what happens with the fiscal cliff. what do you think, 2.5%? >> yeah, i think we should be 2.5% to 3% by the end of next year. >> which might be a slightly better outturn. china seems to be back on track. is there anything in europe -- what's the tail risk at the moment? >> i think there's two things that could still go wrong in europe. one, there's always political risk. in italy, you do have elections coming up. there's a chance getting a higher share than people anticipate. but even then, the financial forces are going to force any government that comes into power to more or less stick to the plan morsi set out. on the other hand, there's always spain, the worries that with 25% unemployment, that you would see the default rate particularly on residential mortgages shoot up, it's 3% now, whi

superstorm like sandy came ashore. katie? >> reporter: good evening, lester. there was a 14-foot storm surge here on lower manhattan, completely submerging this subway station. the damage is so bad here, they don't know when ore if they'll ever by able to open it. swamped subways. >> a record storm surge here in the new york city area. >> reporter: massive power outages and beach front neighborhoods leveled. while officials say sandy was unprecedented, it wasn't entirely unexpected. for three decades, officials were told to prepare for a storm of historic proportions and a l law. >> nobody's taken the political courage to say, here's the standard for prepareness, here's the standard for recovery, we're going to help you fund it and then we're going to punish you if you don't get is there. >> reporter: three state reports since 1975 focused on preparedness, one addressed new york's preparability saying the sea level rise will progress regardless of new york's response. officials dealt with problems like housing, gas shortages and firings as they arose. congress even approved an army cor

businesses are gone because of hurricane sandy, and also 70% to 80% of the residents cannot come home. so they're just trying to do their best to just get it back up and running and we're just trying to bring attention to it. >> you're nice to do that. >> we understand with a fan video, actually, that led to you getting involved. >> yeah, a girl named charlotte who is a 10-year-old girl from new jersey and, you know, new jersey, new york, huge parts of our lives as musicians that have given us this chance. so we owe it to them. >> doing great work. meanwhile, your career, man, you guys are doing incredibly well. you really are. >> welm, we're pretty amazing. >> that's what happens. >> you do say so yourself. it's always good to have you here, pat. >> always good to be here. >> all right. have a good holiday. >>> mr. roker, we'll have much more ahead, but first, let's go inside, natalie's got a check of the headlines. >>> u.s. officials tell nbc news that the syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people as president assad's regime is on the brink of collap

devastated by those hurt by hurricane sandy. he got help. >> santa hitching a ride abord blue angel support plane fat albert. there are no aerobatics. the pilot said it is in keeping of show casing the nave yemarines. >> we get to go all over the world and help people out. it is special to come to our back yard and our neighborhoods and do the same thing for our folks . bringing toys to kids can't get better than that. >> the aircraft is the military equivalent of santa's sleigh. these toys are heading to new jersey to lift of the spirits of chdren affected by hurricane sandy. >> i like the military and everything. it was awesome meeting everybody and talking to everybody and also getting the presents. >> his father is a volunteer firefighter and helped perform rescue while his own home was taking on water. >> i would rather be giving and helping than receiving. it is nice to know that there is much love and appreciation for everybody. >> in addition to helping families, toys for tots is assisting the charities. at a time when they can't think of toys when they are focusing on basics of foo

obama asking congress for $60.4 billion in emergency aid for superstorm sandy recovery efforts. thatie request falls short of total damage estimates. they say they'll need closer to $82 billion to repair their states. >>> it's been more than 15 years since he was mysteriously gunned down, but the los angeles coroner's office has finally released the autopsy report on rapper christopher wallace, also known as the notorious big or biggy smalls. the 23-page report shows wallace suffered four gunshot wounds, one of which was fatal. to date, no arrests made in that case. it remains unsolved. >>> secret service agents at risk all because one man lost some sensitive computer information. the shocking mistake was kept largely secret until now. cnn's brian todd has the details. >> reporter: law enforcement and congressional sources tell cnn the u.s. secret service is being investigated for a potentially damaging loss of information. the data was on two back-up computer tapes which contain very sensitive personnel and investigative information, according to our sources. >> you lost the drive con